Henry VII - Society Flashcards
How was society stratified?
King
- > nobility = owns land, part of gov, has titles // Church
- > gentry = provide armies for war, live in large houses
- > yeomen = farmers - own land/rent
- > citizens = rich merchants + craftsmen in towns/ bourgeoisie
- > labourers
- > vagrants
Nobility + how did Henry limit retaining + interpretation
-dominated landownership
-peerage comprised of about 50-60men
-acquired/bought king’s favour
*Henry reluctant to make new titles
-bastard feudalism/retaining = wealthy magnates recruited men (‘retainers’) to serve them as admin - could abuse this and use against the crown
- Henry tried to limit retaining:
-> 1486 - peers + MPs took oath against illegal retaining
-> 1487 - law against retaining + enforced by Act of 1504 - licences needed for retaining (only King could grant)
*Lord Bergavenny = victim to law - in 1507, fined £100k
‘he gave less wholeheartedly than most previous kings’ - Gunn
‘bonds and recognizances needed to increase royal revenue + were not unprecedented’ - Pugh
Gentry
Great landowners
- sought knighthoods as confirmation of status
- 1490 = about 375 knights
- military obligations
- courtly connections + could dominate local office
- esquires + ‘mere’ gentry were more numerous
Churchmen
Landowners
- bishops + abbots sat in HoL
- Henry tended to appoint bishops based on legal training/ admin competence (e.g Morton + Fox)
Commoners
- Upper part of commoners = bourgeoisie/educated professionals
- shopowners + skilled tradesmen dominated borough corporations (town councils) + key role in organisations e.g. Guilds + Lay Confraternities
- yeomen farmers - substantial properties
- peasants = yeomanry + husbandmen - position was insecure
Regional divisions + justice administration
Line from Teesmouth to Weymouth:
- south + east = mixed farming, more densely populated
- north + west = pastoral farming, less dense
Justice administered at county level - jails + major churches/ areas of magnate influence cut across county borders
Social discontent in the 15th century
Living conditions for poor seemed to be improving + real wages increasing throughout 1450s-1490s
End of 15th Cent - inflationary pressures more evident
- real wage increase reversed
Not much social discontent + subsistence crises (harvest failures -> price rise + starvation) avoided
Guy - ‘Tudor England’s greatest success was its ability to feed itself’
The Yorkshire Rebellion
1489 - sparked off by resentment of taxation granted by Parl to finance involvement of Eng forces in Brittany campaign
- notorious because of murder of Earl of Northumberland in April, Yorkshire (he was a victim of resentment against taxation)
- Northumberland’s retainers deserted him
The Cornish Rebellion + Interpretation
1497 - revenue to finance campaign against Scotland
Threat to Henry’s stability:
- 15,000 involved
- Perkin Warbeck attempts to exploit
- rebels marched on London - only halted at Blackheath
Carpenter - ‘alarming’ rebellion for the King as they marched without attempts to stop them
- Questions about just how effective Crown’s systems for order in countryside
- Daubeney + troops crushed the rebellion but were required to be withdrawn from Scottish border
* only leaders punished - not bulk treated with leniency
*Henry became cautious before entering conflict + ensured Scottish tensions eased
John de Vere - Earl of Oxford
Member of Nobility - Henry’s most trusted military commander + led his troops at Battle of Bosworth
Lancastrian
Giles, Baron Daubeney
Member of Nobility - originally Yorkist but then fought for Henry + led Crown’s forces against Cornish rebels
Became Lord Chamberlain in 1495 (after William Stanley)
Richard Fox
Important clergyman - became Lord Keeper of the Great Seal and Bishop of Exeter, Bath, Durham
Managed Crown’s transition to Henry VIII (With Morton)
Polydore Vergil
Italian humanist - came to England in 1502 for Church - welcomed in court + wrote books about England in 1505 - published 1513
